Hi!! Just me crashing out again because of two men that love each other and I can’t unstick my brain from them. Let me tell you about it.
It's been 2 months since I read Captive Prince (TWICE back to back because you can't NOT to get the full story) and I cannot get it OUT OF MY BRAIN. The dynamics between lamen are some of the BEST tropes I've ever read. And the way the story unfolds is some of the BEST storytelling I've ever READ. If you want to hear my random thoughts and rants, please proceed. (tis very long – just warning you).
I don't think I've ever read a better "show don't tell" story than Captive Prince. The way C.S. Pacat reveals things is done in the most rewarding way imaginable. All of her words have meaning and intention. And just the way she writes in short sentences to make the plot move forward in a "things are happening" way makes you so invested in the suspense and drama of everything happening. And MAN do things HAPPEN ALL THE TIME.
I admit, the first time I attempted to read this book, I didn't get passed the first chapter. I didn't like it, I was put off the themes, I didn't like where I THOUGHT it was going, and I put it away. But I kept seeing SO many people recommending it tand I admit, I kind of spoiled myself by researching the characters and I fell for a certain trope that I told myself, okay maybe give it another chance. And I did, and I've been changed. It is SO much more than what the inital scepticism implies — sexualizing slavery and power dynamics (which the series doesn’t do at all) and instead delves deeper into what is consent and sacrifices and choices made by others for the people they love and pure survival. It really shifts the whole first impression narrative on its head.
I think one of the main reasons I've fallen in love with the storytelling, is because most of the nuanced themes are reading between the lines. Besides for 2 scenes in the entire triology, it is told in Damon's POV, and the pieces of Laurent as a character being slowly unravelled feels like running a marathon and getting tripped multiple times to finally crossing that finish line. And if you can actually understand Laurent for who he is, than you fucking made it.
And if you stopped at only the first book (and I DO get it if you did), than you're doing SUCH a disservice to the story as a whole. Really it should be read as one full story that's divided into three acts. Just stopping at the first book, you loose so much of the story telling. And I feel like the first book really did need the things that happen in them, to happen in them, to feel the full magnitude of the trauma that both these characters have experienced, and where they end up at the end.
Damen, experiencing being a slave and shifting his mindset from "growing up and thinking slavery is totally fine, I treat them well and they're happy" to ending slavery in his reign.
And Laurent, finally dealing with the grief of losing his brother and all the shit that happens to him after (fuck the regent). He was so stuck on his hatred of Damen that I really think it made him stuck in his grieving process where he couldn't move on from the loss of his brother (And wrongfully projecting all his hatred and trauma onto Damen). And now after everything that has happened with coming to terms with the fact that he can't beat him (that fight scene was something else), I think he can finally, finally move on from that single line of hatred and move past it. Especially knowing who Damen is a person.
AND to add to the quick backlash that this series gets with the whole "romanticizes slavery" (which it does not), let's rewind here and put into a FULL series read perspective here from Laurent's POV in the first book of Captive Prince. First of all, Damen is an unreliable narrator. Yes, Laurent did some super shitty things to Damen in the first book. And I'm not trying to excuse those actions, merely shedding light from his head space. What he did was wrong. But I can understand him. Let's go back to Marlas. Even a bit before that, after years of peace between Vere and Akielos — Laurent, a 13 year old boy, whose mother had passed recently, and now has lost his Mother's country as an ally, is facing war against his country because Akielos has taken the opportunity of his weakened country.
‘They were years of peace and good harvests. The kingdom was secure, and Queen Hennike had provided two heirs. Then, six years ago, when the Queen died, we lost our alliance with Kempt, and Akielos took it as an opportunity to invade.’
His country goes to war, with his brother Auguste, who he adores and is his protector and role model, is at the head of the army. Damen, 19 and looking to prove himself, tells his father that he can beat Auguste, Laurent's brother, who has been fighting on the front lines for hours and is exhausted. Damen, who has NOT been fighting on the front lines, is fresh and rested and kills Auguste (after Auguste let him pick up his sword after disarming him!!). He is then referenced in all of Vere as "Prince Killer". After Auguste dies in battle, Laurent's father also gets killed swiftly after with a bow, and now Laurent has lost, his mother, his father and his brother all in probably a very short span of time. But it's okay (not), because his Uncle, the only remaining family member he has left, is there to comfort him (again not). Except his creepy uncle takes advantage of him sexually and psychologically manipulates him and he grows up with his countries bias of Daminanos the "Prince Killer". A WHOLE LOT OF TRAUMATIC THINGS HAPPEN TO LAURENT so it's NO WONDER that when he is suddenly "gifted" Damen as a slave to him, that he kind of loses his mind and takes out years of trauma out on him, the catalyst, in his mind, for a lot of shit he went through.
But my goodness do they uncover the GOOD in each person. Laurent finds out how honourable, and just good a person Damen actually is. And Damen's slow uncovering of Laurent is sooooo sooooo goood! Anytime you get a peak at Laurent's softer side, is like an angel getting it's wings. It's glorious, and it's so, so, so incredible a journey that the MAN that Laurent has forced himself to train and try and beat, is the one who actually breaks down his walls. I don't even know HOW we got from point A to Point B, but we did and it was done with SUCH GOOD INTENTION AND DETAIL AND READING BETWEEN THE LINES. I love it. And I also love that the actual romance between them, it happens when they are on equal grounds with each other. And both of them are such capable people on their own, and they see that in the other and that's part of why I love their dynamic SO much. And the writing is so intentional. Like nothing written is just filler. Every little detail means something. And I loooooove that.
And now I don't know how to move ON! Someone help me. How do I move on from them. I don't think I can. I love their dynamic SO much.
Okay stoooop he is so precious! This makes me miss Scotland so much! It is such a beautiful country, especially the highland areas. I already know that the scenery and cinematography of this movies is going to be stunning.
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